Xbox boss talks about the real world environment versus an internal testing environment.

343 Industries’ Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been the subject of many issues since its launch, making the single-player campaign difficult to play and online play nearly impossible to access. A recent update has helped alleviate many of the matchmaking woes but there’s still plenty of work to be done. According to Xbox division boss Phil Spencer, in conversation with Game Informer, internal tests couldn’t possibly simulate real world circumstances.

“Going into the launch our internal processes and testing methodologies had told us that we had a game that was ready to launch. Then, when it launched, we learned some things we didn’t know going into the launch – which is something we need to get better at. You’re always going to learn something when you launch; you can’t simulate the real-world environment completely inside of any sterile, fixed environment.”

Microsoft has since tried to make amends with fans offering a free month of Xbox Live Gold and Halo 3: ODST as a free update. What are your thoughts on the current state of Halo: The Master Chief Collection thus far? Let us know in the comments.